A Connecticut community college announced Thursday that one of its professor was fired after giving a Nazi salute to administrators at a meeting in November 2018.

Charles Meyrick, former Housatonic Community College assistant professor of business and economics, was fired following an investigation, according to the college.

“On November 2, 2018, Mr. Meyrick attended a meeting of faculty and administrators from the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) at Manchester Community College, where he exhibited unacceptable behavior toward his colleagues,” a school press release said. “The disturbance, which included Mr. Meyrick shouting ‘seig heil’ and using a Nazi salute for over 10 minutes, caused colleagues to become ‘unnerved and fearful that violence would erupt.’ Some began looking for exits and many left the room because they ‘felt threatened and unsafe.’”

The incident occurred after Meyrick was in disagreement with a colleague. The colleague asked Meyrick to leave, which the business professor found “as an effort to silence him for expressing a dissenting opinion,” the school found. Meyrick wanted to show that silencing debate was “tyrannical and wrong” and making the Nazi salute was his way of showing that, according to the investigation report.

Meyrick worked at the school for nine years and 11 people were interviewed as part of the investigation. He was willing to apologize for the salute and Nazi statement.

Comments

“The disturbance, which included Mr. Meyrick shouting ‘seig heil’ and using a Nazi salute for over 10 minutes, caused colleagues to become ‘unnerved and fearful that violence would erupt”

Point 1: This behavior is almost always intended to mock someone else’s authoritarian behavior. Apparently no one else got the joke.

Point 2: 10 minutes? That’s a little bit crazy. It’s likely that this is not the first time his behavior has been over the top.

Point 3: Unnerved and fearful of violence? Cowards and fools! If they were that worried, why didn’t they call the police and get a mental health eval?

Point 4: He was engaging in protest of what he believed was an infringement of his first amendment rights (he says. It makes more sense than that he just spontaneously started heiling). Firing him for that protest can also be construed as an infringement of his right to free speech.

Conclusion. He’s going to sue and he’s going to settle out of court for enough money to retire on.

To me the real danger is “fear” now simply being justifiable as cause. Look at someone in what they determine is “the wrong way” and they can terminate you. I wonder if we can come up with a gesture like “air quotes” to indicate when the sarcasm mode is turned on.